


There's Bound To Be Talk Tomorrow

by raven_bird



Series: Christmas Challenge 2015 [5]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, Christmas, Christmas Music, Co-workers, Dancing, F/F, Fluff, is this a non vampire au? nobody knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 04:18:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5361134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_bird/pseuds/raven_bird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmilla and Laura spend Christmas Eve working. Not the best way to spend the holiday, but they find a way to make it work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There's Bound To Be Talk Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this Christmas Prompt Challange](http://alloftheprompts.tumblr.com/post/134349883493/25-days-christmas-romance-challenge)
> 
> Prompt: Character A and Character B are co-workers, but they barely know each other. But they both have to work through the holidays.

Carmilla was doing her best to ignore the other worker.

 

Well… sort of. She had one headphone in, but the volume was turned down so that she could get an idea of what her co-worker, Laura, was saying.

 

“Hey, dad,” she sighed, tapping her pen against the side of her desk. “Yup, still at work. Have you broken into the eggnog yet?”

 

There was a pause.

 

“I know you don’t want me to work on Christmas Eve, but I just got the job and I don’t want to seem--”

 

Silence.

 

“I’m not alone! I’m here with…. with….”

 

Carmilla looked up. Laura was staring at her. Making a show of pulling out her earbuds out, Carmilla cocked her head, leaning back in her chair and swinging her feet up to rest on the desk.

 

Laura held the phone away, her eyes darting from Carmilla to the boots on the desk. “What’s your name again?”

 

“Carmilla.”

 

“I’m here with Carmilla.” Laura said. “She’s… nice.”

 

Carmilla repressed a laugh. She wasn’t used to being called ‘nice’. She didn’t try very hard to seem likeable, and she knew that most people would take one look at her and automatically avoid her eyes, intimidated. Carmilla had to admit it, though: it was nice, having that kind of power.

 

Honestly, she knew that if it wasn’t for Mother, she wouldn’t have gotten a job at the library anyways. Or at least, she wouldn’t have been able to keep it. She was so unapproachable that even the friendliest of visitors refused to check out their books with her. This, she supposed, was the reason that she had been chosen to take the Christmas shift: that way, there were less people for her to frighten.

 

It wasn’t like she minded. With Mattie away, and Mother working so hard in the office, Carmilla knew that she would have spent the holidays at some bar or other. If she was lucky, she would have ended up in some lonely girl’s bed, but all in all, there was nothing unusual she was missing out on.

 

With the library as empty as it was, though, she was only concerned about how difficult it would be to spend the evening with the other girl. Laura seemed to be entirely dressed for the occasion, from her bulky red sweater to the socks (patterned with Christmas ornaments) that Carmilla could see peeking out from her shoes. She seemed like the type who wouldn’t be happy to spend the night without a little holiday spirit.

 

Carmilla was not in the mood for holiday spirit.

 

True to Carmilla’s prediction, though, as soon as Laura had finished convincing her father that she was _not_ going to die of loneliness and unhappiness due to working overtime, she turned to Carmilla.

 

“I could probably get the library speakers hooked up to my iPod,” she said, holding up the device. “I can’t use my phone for music, because my dad won’t let me get a smartphone, but I have a whole bunch of Christmas music downloaded. What’s your favourite?”

 

Carmilla raised an eyebrow, a little taken aback by how unintimated Laura seemed. “I don’t like Christmas music.”

 

Laura looked honestly offended. “C’mon. You’ve got to like at least something. Hold on.” She fumbled with the cords on the nearby desk, finding the one she was looking for with a small, happy noise, and hooking it up to her iPod.

 

Within moments, the opening notes of _All I Want For Christmas Is You_ began to play, followed by Mariah Carey beginning to sing.

 

“No.” Carmilla said, quickly, and Laura laughed.

 

“It’s a classic.”

 

“That,” Carmilla said disdainfully, “Is not a classic.”

 

“Fine, you grinch. How does Winter Wonderland sound?”

 

Carmilla shook her head. “Not happening, cupcake.”

 

“Jingle Bell Rock?”

 

“I’d rather not have _Mean Girls_ flashbacks.”

 

“Okay, you know what, I don’t care.” Laura bent over her phone, her fingers tapping on the screen. “I am going to put on Christmas music, and you are going to have to suffer through it whether you like it or not.”

 

Carmilla shrugged, grimacing slightly. Still, she resigned herself to her fate… that is, until she heard the song.

 

“I am _not_ going to list--”

 

But it was too late. Laura was already beginning to sing along. “I really can’t stayy.”

 

“Oh, god.”

 

“-- But baby it’s _cold outside_.”

 

“If you’re going to sing this whole song by yourself--”

 

“I’ve got to go away.”

 

“I swear, if you do this all evening--”

 

Laura was paying her no attention at all, getting really into the song now. “Baby, it’s cold outside.”

 

“You know, if you think about it, this song is actually really creepy.” Carmilla said, desperate now.

 

“This evening has been…” Laura spun on the spot, her eyes closed, and clutched her hands to her chest dramatically. “So very nice.”

 

Carmilla really couldn’t help it. The urge to respond with a _‘I’ll hold your hands, they’re just like ice’_ was extremely tempting, but there was no way that she was going to give in like that. This whole scene was just ridiculous: she couldn’t believe it was happening before her eyes.

 

“Father will be pacing the floor…” Laura continued, her eyes open now. She broke off suddenly to say, “Hey, you’re nodding your head. Not such a grinch after all, huh?”

 

“I am _not_ nodding my head,” Carmilla tried to say, but Laura had already picked up the song again, this time moving to Carmilla and pulling her by her wrists. Carmilla was forced to let her feet fall off of the desk, and before she knew it, she was standing face-to-face with Laura.

 

“The neighbours might think…” Laura said, and then pointed to Carmilla.

 

She was not going to do this. She was not going to do this. She was not going to…

 

Shit.

 

“Baby, it’s bad out there.”

 

Laura’s face lit up, which almost ( _almost_ ) made it worth it.

 

“Say, what’s in this drink?”

 

Carmilla felt like saying, ‘ _See? Creepy._ ’ Instead, though, she let out an internal sigh and accepted it. “No cabs to be had out there.”

 

Laura continued to dance, spinning around and dragging Carmilla with her. It was an odd, unrefined sort of movement, nothing like what Carmilla was used to, but she found herself enjoying the unpredictableness of it. It was also worth it, just to see Laura’s delighted grin after every twirl.

 

Oh. That was not part of Carmilla’s plan for the evening. She hadn’t anticipated to find herself captivated by anyone on Christmas Eve, especially not the girl she was working with, a girl who wore Christmas sweaters and danced to cheesy holiday songs.

 

Well. It’s not like she could help it, now. There was nothing for it but to finish the song and try not to stare too obviously at Laura, with her gorgeous, warm brown eyes and her flushed cheeks (and god, she was probably being _insanely_ obvious about it). So much for her aloof appearance.

 

Minutes later (minutes spent with Carmilla being all too aware of how close Laura was standing), the song came to an end, and Laura collapsed into giggles, grabbing hold of Carmilla to keep herself steady.

 

“That was the most fun I’ve had in days.” She pulled back, poking Carmilla. “See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

 

“Not so bad.” Carmilla admitted. She reached out to pat down a strand of Laura’s hair that had gotten tangled during all the spinning.

 

Laura’s eyes followed her hand’s movement, and the flickered quickly to Carmilla’s face. “So. Um. I was wondering… after this shift, how would you like to come back to my place? I promise I won’t play any really cheesy Christmas songs.”

 

Carmilla grinned. “Sounds good.”

 

‘We still have a couple more hours, though.”

  
“Oh, I can think of a couple ways to spend those,” Carmilla told her, and leaned in.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at [lavenderjehan](http://lavenderjehan.tumblr.com)


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